Yahoo Finance Vuzix's (VUZI) Smart Glasses Gain Traction in Healthcare
Vuzix VUZI and the VIS platform have long been in collaboration to advance healthcare facilities. The two organizations recently showcased the expertise they have gained by integrating Vuzix’s smart glasses and the VIS platform’s media portfolio of 400 live surgeries, patient data and video systems.
The same live broadcast also became the stage for two of the most well-known hospitals in Asia to demonstrate their expertise through Vuzix M400 smart glasses. These two hospitals were Linkou Chang Gung Memorial Hospital and First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical University.
While Linkou Chang Gung streamed the surgery of knee-joint using Vuzix smart glasses, the First Affiliated Hospital of Dalian Medical Univerisity demonstrated a cardiac surgery. Vuzix smart glasses are adopted by a growing number of healthcare facilities.
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Vuzix Gains From Expanding Portfolio
Vuzix is continuously expanding its display technology capability and augmented reality (AR) product portfolio. VUZI has expanded its manufacturing expertise by gaining the capability to design and produce large-format waveguides in its advanced New York State facility. The company also gained the expertise to manufacture optical waveguides with integrated vision correction prescriptions.
The large-format waveguides can be used as large see-through displays with high visual fidelity, making them suitable for the automotive, retail and medical industries. The optical waveguide can be used to correct the vision of visually challenged individuals by using AR smart glasses and head-mounted display (HMD) products.
In 2024, VUZI also launched Vuzix Z100 smart glasses that are meant to be used as safety glasses by workers in the manufacturing and construction industries. Workers can use these to get updates, real-time notifications and approvals.
Vuzix is also gaining from continuous demand for its product. Boston-based, Xander has been reordering Vuzix smart glasses persistently. VUZI’s products also see high demand in defense organizations. The company received additional orders from aerospace and defense firms for waveguide-based display products. Additionally, an Air Force agency, AFWERX, purchased AR HMDs from Vuzix.
Competitive Pressure
Vuzix operates in a highly competitive market that has players like Microsoft MSFT, Alphabet GOOGL, Epson and even Meta Platforms META. These companies produce AR glasses that serve manufacturing, healthcare, logistics and entertainment.
For instance, Microsoft’s Hololens, with its mixed-reality features, has applications in the business and industrial front. Epson is one of the leaders in healthcare AR because of its Moverio series. Alphabet’s Google Glass and Meta’s project Aria are focused on travel space.
Vuzix also suffers from low industry demand for its enterprise smart glasses. These enterprises are early adopters, which makes them skeptical about the inherent drawbacks of this technology, including its high price, limited battery life and reduced field of view.
Conclusion
VUZI stock has plunged 34.8% in the year-to-date period, significantly higher than the decline of 22.5% registered by the Zacks Computer - Peripheral Equipment industry.
The company is suffering from many industry-related and competitive challenges that it is trying to overcome. To expand its market share in the enterprise space, VUZI is improving the wearability and functionality of its smart glasses.
For long-term goals, Vuzix is shifting its focus to superior waveguide-based designs and AI-integrated smart glasses. In June 2024, the company collaborated with Avegant to develop optimized waveguide optical modules for their integration in AI-enabled smart glasses in the future. The company has also partnered with Garmin Laboratories to design and produce nano-imprinted waveguide-based display setups.
Currently, VUZI has no Zacks Rank. Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) each at present. Shares of MSFT, GOOGL and META have returned 21.5%, 31% and 42.6%, respectively, in the year-to-date period.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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